Utah Fumbles Away Home Winning Streak

Don Eisenbarth
Tuesday May 17, 2011

Throughout the 2011 campaign the Utah Blaze have been reminiscent of the 2007 Blaze. High scoring, showing promise that they could be one the best teams of the league but never quite getting there. The offense has been on fire, the defense had their moments, and the Blaze still had enough to be competitive in most of the games they played. However, at the start of the Milwaukee game this week the Blaze were channeling the 2010 team. Tommy Grady was haunted by the Ghost of Michael Affleck and fumbled three snaps and Alvance Robinson fumbled two kickoff returns in the first half. The Blaze equipment should be inspected because it seemed like their gloves were covered in grease.

“Simply too many turnovers.” Said Utah Head Coach Ron James about why the Blaze lost at home 65-53. “We fumbled the ball on kickoff returns; we fumbled the ball on offense... It just was uncharacteristic of our team and how we play at home and offensively. We just couldn't get going in the first half. We dug a hole.”

The Mustangs never played what you could call dominant football. In fact they seemed like a team that was incapable to play such football. They just picked up the ball when it found its way to the floor. From there the Mustangs scored on most of their possessions, as Utah's "bend but not break defense" didn't get as many stops as they got field goals. That allowed the Blaze to get back into the game. Shortly into the fourth quarter the Blaze had fought back to a lead of 39-36.

“We came back, we fought hard and that's great, but it couldn't get us the win,” said Coach James. The Blaze trailed 53-59 with only 19 seconds left in the game, but a final drive interception killed any chance of winning a game that the Blaze never deserved to be even close to winning. 

The Blaze had not lost a game at home to this point in the season, and to do so in this fashion was heartbreaking to the fans. Some fans were left wondering if the Blaze were suffering from overlooking a lesser Milwaukee team and looking ahead to a critical divisional match-up against the San Jose SaberCats next week in Salt Lake City.

“I think we did take them lighter then we should have, That being said we played miserably in the first half and dug ourselves a hole so, fighting back is one thing, but execution is what needs to be done.” Said James

“Maybe we could say we overlooked these guys, I don't know,” said Wide Receiver Aaron Boone. “I didn't think they're that great of a team to be honest with you. You can't have that many turnovers, bottom line. We gave them too many teams to come back, and we fought back, but unfortunately we shot ourselves in the foot too many times.”

The final stats had the Blaze with 7 fumbles (seemed like more) with 6 of them being picked up by Milwaukee. The 7th turnover was the end of game interception and 7 turnovers will usually cause a team to lose by 40 or 50, not by 13. The fact that the Blaze still had a chance to win with 19 seconds left is either a testament to the tenacity of the Blaze or a testament to the inability of the Mustangs.

“We have a next play mentality, anything can happen in this game,” said Boone. “With 19 seconds we still had a chance to win. Anything can happen in this game and that's what the young guys are starting to learn, it's not over until it's over. And unfortunately we came up short.”

The comeback was partially allowed by Coach James strategy of trading touchdowns for field goals, and by doing so the Blaze were able to eat away at the Mustang’s lead. “We said we weren't going to kick field goals, we were going to go for it on fourth down and try to win the football game. At the end of the game, they kicked the field goal which I didn't expect for them to do. They gave us an extra possession as well. We managed the game as well as we could of, but the execution was so poor, there was no opportunity there,” said James.

The comeback however, was too little too late. The real damage happened in the first quarter where the Blaze offense was barely on the field due to an opening kickoff off the iron and recovered by Milwaukee, and two fumbled kickoff returns. “It hurt to not get out there (after the fumbled kickoffs) and on the one fumble where the Quarterback lost it on the first play,” said Boone. “That first quarter we just weren't out there. This offense, we can roll, we can put points up, but when we aren't on the field it's tough to do that.”

The Blaze now have to regroup to play a talented San Jose team that comes into Salt Lake just a half game ahead of the Blaze for 2nd place in increasingly tighter West Division. “It's a tough loss for us,” said James. “We wanted to keep the home field advantage, and to give up a loss to a team that we're better then is a tragic move on our part. Now we have to gear up for San Jose next week and we're banged up, so it's up to us to look at personnel and see what we're going to do.”

Aaron Boone Breaks Milestone

Aaron Boone becomes the first and only player in Utah Blaze history to gain over 100 TD. Boone has 102 after three touchdown were thrown his way this week. “It's a milestone. I didn't know I had got that. It sounds cool. Playing .500 football isn't what you're playing for. At my age, I'm not playing for .500 football, I'm playing for a championship and that's what I want,” said Boone.

Boone has been the source of controversy over the past month as a Deseret News article said Boone was slated to have season ending, and perhaps career ending, surgery on his knee. I talk to Aaron last week and he said that he was just playing day to day, and that he really doesn’t know what his condition is. His on the field performance would suggest that he’s fine and Utah fans hope that he would be available for future games.

Aaron LeSue Hurts Ankle

Wide Receiver/Linebacker/Kick Holder Aaron LeSue appeared to have a sprained ankle during the game. After the injury LeSue continued to hold the ball for PAT kicks but did not return for offensive play. After the game at fan-fest his ankle was slightly swollen and covered with an ice pack, however LeSue was gingerly walking and cordially talking to fans and his mother. Coach James said that they would examine the ankle and determines LeSue’s playing ability. This puts 2 of Utah’s most productive wide receivers on day to day status for next week’s game against the SaberCats.

Blaze to Look for Yet another Kicker

Kicker Greg Gundersen has been relatively productive and consistent for the Blaze, so much so that Gundersen has been picked up and has left for the CFL. Former Boise State kicker Kyle Brotzman has been invited to tryout for the team in an effort to replace Gunderson,

Brotzman may not be a household game, but you might know him better as the kicker who threw a game-changing fake punt pass in the fourth quarter of the Broncos victory over the TCU Horned Frogs in the Fiesta Bowl and you’ll definitely know him as the guy missed two field goal opportunities in Boise’s lost to Nevada that cost them a perfect season last year.
 
“I’ve learned a lot. That was a humbling experience. But a lot of good can come out of negative things,” Brotzman said in a recent Blaze press release. “I didn’t get invited anywhere, and now the NFL lockout has put a stop to things. I have just been training, and waiting to see what comes around. Utah asked me to come and tryout, so here I am. This is my first try out with a team, so we’ll see what happens.”